The plug is for an in-room refrigerator; the outlet is in the wall of our hotel in Bukavu. This has happened way more often than I would have expected – even at our “home” hotel in Goma the wall outlet in my room isn’t the standard circle with two eyes, but instead is something that I recognized from Asia.

I can’t wait to seem more about of my Goma colleague Shayla Harris’ investigation into electricity in Congo because the electricity itself is so very provisional. Last night we were talking with a source, the entire neighborhood’s power slumped off, leaving us in dusky blue, only stars above and cellphones below lighting our way. We looked around, mildly alarmed. He just kept talking.

#Goma #DRC #IWMF #IWMFellows #Bukavu

-Molly Peterson